New Funky List

YC directed me to a discussion on 8th Ed Dark Elves in the Warseer forums.

Although not every post is gold, there does exists gem-ly food for thoughts every few pages.

As such, I have derived a new Funky List from some of the things that they have posted.

It is impossible to really get a good grasp on an army based on what the internetz says. For every Slann player who comes on to say that Slann is soooo weak he lost every single battle to the Dark Elf player who claims that he wins 99% of his battles (with core blocks of horde spearelves?) or the players who swears that their repeatercrossbows slaughters every single thing that laid in their paths. Apparently, the memo didn't reach my gaming friends to fail all their armour saves, ward saves, to hit rolls, to wound rolls and to misfire whenever their stone throwers are in range.

But I am happy with this new list that I have made. It did lose the first battle against 8th Ed Ogre Kingdoms (battle report to come soon) but I can really see the potential of the army. The Funky List will be tweaked a little as I change things here and there, but the main core/point of the army will remain as it is. So without further ado...

Dreadlord on Dark Steed with Great Weapon, Armour of Darkness, Pendant of Khaeleth and Crown of Command. General, 259 pts.
This is my Stubborn lord on Dark Steed who can literally lock down a whole Ogre bus as he proved in the previous Battle Report. He is susceptible to Death Lore, but that's a risk any character need to take.

Lvl 4 Supreme Sorceress, Shadow Lore, Tome of Furion, Talisman of Preservation (the 4+ ward save). 310 pts.
This is my main spellcaster character. I'm thinking of fleshing her out a little with some more Enchanted items or a different Arcane item. Tome of Furion may be a little wasted on her I think but I wanted her to get all the Shadow spells I need.

Master BSB with Heavy Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield with Standard of Hag Graef. 150 pts.
My BSB that confers ASF on the unit he is with. He provides re-rolls on Leadership and rolls to hit on any non-fast armies.With a base Initiative of I5 for most of my army, I get free hatred on most opponents.

Lvl 2 Sorceress, Shadow Lore, Dispel Scroll. 160 pts.
My back-up Sorceress who is in the army for only 2 single purposes. Firstly, she is a Dispel Scroll caddie. Secondly, she is to bail out my Lvl 4 spellcaster with Shadow Lore.

Death Hag with Cauldron of Blood 200 pts
My CoB that gives 1 unit a 5+ ward save or +1 attack. It's very useful.

35 Corsairs, Full Command with Sea Serpent Standard 400pts.
The main core of my army. A horde formation of frenzied Corsairs. They are immune to psychology, have the BSB inside for ASF. The front rank itself will dish out 31 attacks. With a good Shadow lore and Occam's Mindrazor getting off, they can probably chew through many many things easily. However, it does need a good magic phase to go off and unleash their true potential. With a back rank, it can easily hit 51 attacks. Even if I lost 15 Corsairs marching towards the enemy, I can still hit their infantry blocks with 31 attacks from the front ranks alone. With Immune to Psychology, I am also immune to panic tests.

16 Repeater CrossbowElves with Musician 181 pts
15 Repeater CrossbowElves with Musician 170 pts
These 2 units are here to provide a bit of firepower to chase off charge-blockers and speed-bumps like Sabretusks. I plan to use them on the flanks, 1 on each flank of the Corsairs to shoot at those pesky little things. One of them did quite decent in the 2nd battle against the Ogres, killing 2 Maneaters over 3 rounds of shooting.

20 SpearElves 120 pts.
This unit is meant to be the bunker unit for my lvl 2 Sorceress and guarding my rear. Keeping them close at the rear of the Corsairs mean that I can switch the lvl 4 from the Corsair's front rank even if she is in close combat to teleport her safely behind. Anyone will try to aim the lvl 4 when she is with the Corsairs. But if a small unit like a Great Eagle charges in, the Corsairs can dish out enough attacks to finish off that unit with ASF before they hit the Sorceress. Once I am in contact with another big block, then the lvl 2 will teleport the lvl 4 out and die in her place, though people will seldom aim her.

1 Chariot 100 pts
The Chariot that will lend its impact hits as a counter-charging unit to help out the combat. With Swiftstride, it can also help to chase off pesky charge-blockers.

5 WitchElves 50 pts
5 WitchElves 50 pts
These 2 units are meant to screen the horde Corsairs as speed-bumps. At 50 pts each, they are meant to die. Any shooting directed at them is shooting not directed against the Corsairs. With Frenzy, they are also immune to panic and will stand there. If an enemy large unit charges them, they will hold them up for 1 single turn of combat and if possible get some kills in. I5 and 3 attacks each means they can dish out some damage first before dying in glorious tribute to the Blood God.

Hydra 175pts
Hydra 175pts
The mainstay of my counter-charging options. These 2 tremendous threat machines pose a very veritable influence on the opponent. Everyone is scared of them, everyone wants them dead. And opponents will specifically configure Fire options to deny them Regen. They hold their own in combat, are hard to kill, and is a menace all round. They are not on the same threat level as maybe 50 Whitelions, but woe to the opponent who underestimates these ferocious beasts.

I like my new list. It's very combat heavy as the Dark Elves don't have the kind of template weapons that allow armies to sit behind and trade ranged fire. They do suffer a bit from needing to focus so much on close combat, but Repeater Crossbows at Str 3 and Repeater Bolt Throwers are not the kind of ranged options that rule the battlefield.

This list may have fared poorly in its first battle but I have seen its potential at work and I like it.